ZAMBIA
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 752,610 km2; land area: 740,720 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than Texas
Land boundaries: 5,664 km total; Angola 1,110 km, Malawi 837 km,
Mozambique 419 km, Namibia 233 km, Tanzania 338 km, Zaire 1,930 km,
Zimbabwe 797 km
Coastline: none--landlocked
Maritime claims: none--landlocked
Disputes: quadripoint with Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe is in
disagreement; Tanzania-Zaire-Zambia tripoint in Lake Tanganyika may no
longer be indefinite since it is reported that the indefinite section of
the Zaire-Zambia boundary has been settled
Climate: tropical; modified by altitude; rainy season (October to
April)
Terrain: mostly high plateau with some hills and mountains
Natural resources: copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds,
gold, silver, uranium, hydropower potential
Land use: arable land 7%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures 47%; forest and woodland 27%; other 19%; includes irrigated
NEGL%
Environment: deforestation; soil erosion; desertification
Note: landlocked
PEOPLE
Population: 8,445,724 (July 1991), growth rate 3.5% (1991)
Birth rate: 49 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 12 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: - 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 79 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 55 years male, 58 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 6.9 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Zambian(s); adjective--Zambian
Ethnic divisions: African 98.7%, European 1.1%, other 0.2%
Religion: Christian 50-75%, Muslim and Hindu, remainder indigenous
beliefs 1%
Language: English (official); about 70 indigenous languages
Literacy: 73% (male 81%, female 65%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990 est.)
Labor force: 2,455,000; 85% agriculture; 6% mining, manufacturing,
and construction; 9% transport and services
Organized labor: about 238,000 wage earners are unionized
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Republic of Zambia
Type: multiparty system; on 17 December 1990, President Kenneth
KAUNDA signed into law the constitutional amendment that officially
reintroduced the multiparty system in Zambia and ending 17 years of
one-party rule
Capital: Lusaka
Administrative divisions: 9 provinces; Central, Copperbelt,
Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western
Independence: 24 October 1964 (from UK; formerly Northern Rhodesia)
Constitution: 25 August 1973
Legal system: based on English common law and customary law;
judicial review of legislative acts in an ad hoc constitutional council;
has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: Independence Day, 24 October (1964)
Executive branch: president, prime minister, Cabinet
Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly
Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Dr. Kenneth David KAUNDA (since 24
October 1964);
Head of Government--Prime Minister Gen. Malimba MASHEKE (since
15 March 1989)
Political parties and leaders:
United National Independence Party (UNIP), Kenneth KAUNDA;
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), Frederick CHILUBA;
National Democratic Alliance (NADA), leader NA;
Democratic Party, leader NA; note--the first Extraordinary
Congress of UNIP began on 6 August 1991
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
President--last held 26 October 1988
(next to be held mid-1991);
results--President Kenneth KAUNDA was reelected without opposition;
National Assembly--last held 26 October 1988
(next to be held mid-1991);
results--UNIP was the only party;
seats--(136 total, 125 elected) UNIP 125
Communists: no Communist party
Member of: ACP, AfDB, C, CCC, ECA, FAO, FLS, G-19, G-77, GATT,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ITU,
LORCS, NAM, OAU, SADCC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU,
WCL, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Paul J. F. LUSAKA; Chancery
at 2419 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202)
265-9717 through 9721;
US--Ambassador Gordon L. STREET; Embassy at corner of Independence
Avenue and United Nations Avenue, Lusaka (mailing address is P. O. Box
31617, Lusaka); telephone 2601 228-595, 228-596, 228-598, 228-601,
228-602, 228-603, 251-419
Flag: green with a panel of three vertical bands of red (hoist
side), black, and orange below a soaring orange eagle, on the outer
edge of the flag
ECONOMY
Overview: The economy has been in decline for more than a decade
with falling imports and growing foreign debt. Economic difficulties
stem from a sustained drop in copper production and ineffective economic
policies. In 1990 real GDP stood only slightly higher than that of 10
years before, while an annual population growth of more than 3% has
brought a decline in per capita GDP of 25% during the same period. A
high inflation rate has also added to Zambia's economic woes in recent
years.
GDP: $4.7 billion, per capita $580; real growth rate - 2% (1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 80% (1990)
Unemployment rate: NA%
Budget: revenues $1.5 billion; expenditures $1.5 billion,
including capital expenditures of $300 million (1991 est.)
Exports: $1.1 million (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--copper, zinc, cobalt, lead, tobacco;
partners--EC, Japan, South Africa, US
Imports: $1.1 million (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--machinery, transportation equipment, foodstuffs,
fuels, manufactures;
partners--EC, Japan, South Africa, US
External debt: $7.2 billion (December 1990)
Industrial production: growth rate 2.9% (1990); accounts for
one-third of GDP
Electricity: 1,900,000 kW capacity; 8,245 million kWh produced,
1,050 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: copper mining and processing, transport, construction,
foodstuffs, beverages, chemicals, textiles, and fertilizer
Agriculture: accounts for 15% of GDP and 85% of labor force;
crops--corn (food staple), sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower, tobacco,
cotton, sugarcane, cassava; cattle, goats, beef, eggs;
marginally self-sufficient in corn
Economic aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (1970-89), $484
million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments
(1970-88), $4.5 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $60 million;
Communist countries (1970-89), $533 million
Currency: Zambian kwacha (plural--kwacha);
1 Zambian kwacha (ZK) = 100 ngwee
Exchange rates: Zambian kwacha (ZK) per US$1--43.2900 (January
1991), 28.9855 (1990), 12.9032 (1989), 8.2237 (1988), 8.8889 (1987),
7.3046 (1986), 2.7137 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 1,266 km, all 1.067-meter gauge; 13 km double track
Highways: 36,370 km total; 6,500 km paved, 7,000 km crushed stone,
gravel, or stabilized soil; 22,870 km improved and unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 2,250 km, including Zambezi and Luapula Rivers,
Lake Tanganyika
Pipelines: 1,724 km crude oil
Ports: Mpulungu (lake port)
Civil air: 6 major transport aircraft
Airports: 121 total, 106 usable; 13 with permanent-surface runways;
1 with runways over 3,659 m; 4 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 23 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: facilities are among the best in Sub-Saharan
Africa; high-capacity radio relay connects most larger towns and cities;
71,700 telephones; stations--11 AM, 3 FM, 9 TV; satellite earth
stations--1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Air Force, Police, paramilitary
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,755,585; 920,878 fit for
military service
Defense expenditures: $NA, NA% of GDP